Judging Met Opera 24-25 Program & What Did I do

I didn't give up this podcast, I'm alive... and I'm back!

Hello everyone! How's your days. I enjoyed one month break. I was listening to Mendelssohn for these days and have read a few great books related to opera. 

ehh... I lose my recording for two of the works:

Fidelio: I love all of the singers, defiantly excited to see it
Die Frau ohne Schatten: another Strauss' work, I like the libretto and the opera itself. The fact that this opera is about marriage and love and this production a gift of a Managing Director and his wife is interesting.

24-25 season is like, average, but it is 2024, please, just don't have any high expectation.  

I don't wanna say much about the new productions before the came up, but Peter Gelb please don't mess up everything :)

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/

Transcript

Good morning good noon good afternoon good evening good night. It is your Aulinda here again to bring you the new episode of Opera Wheres.

long time no see guys, since met opera is having a break for about the whole feburary, so i just stayed home for these days, enjoying my little break. Will to be honest initially i didnt plan to go to several concerts, ex: Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by bso and carnegie. and some other stuff. but eventually, i went to none of them bc whats better than staying home and watch some fassbinder movie. 

i went a musical last night, it is jellys last jams dress rehearsal. since i'm participating in the externship of the nyc center right now, the ticket is for free. im not a musical enthusiastic but it is great, even tho im rly just not that into musical, it is still great for me to explore more of my perspective both as a student and an opera podcaster.

what else did i do… will. just like every average opera lover, i also enjoy classical. so today, there were something interesting happened. … (reading) yk yunchan lim, one of the starring young pianisyt pof the day, also hsi carnegie debut. and… unfortunately even tho i tried, but i didnt get the ticket. but whatever, i do have a positive mindset. my conclusion is: deal with whatever situation you are in because the most important thing for a living human is to be happy. ill just wait til april for the recording.

time for my dry transaction to our theme today. met’s 2024-2025 season program is out! i actually got some prior information of it, my friend received the annual book yesterday and she’s like, hmh, im going to fight peter gelb. i was like, please, calm down, hes probably stronger than u think because i think hes prepared for people like u. but she didnt reveal more details than omg new productions, omg random unknown singers. and shes so upset by the program yesterday thagt causes the only hope of her life became yunchan lim. and now shes alive again because of lim’s chopin! wow, increditable.

will today, when i was looking at the p[rigram, it is actually way more better than what i was expected… maybe because i literally have no expectations of peter gelb and 2024 met opera? to be honest im pretty satisdied by the operas they choose, it includes both classical and starrubf new productions for example grounded. i just dont understand why they played la bohme for 4 or more consecutive seasons, but okay… fine. it is just i might not be going. 

2024-2025: 18 operas

2023-2024: 18 operas

2022-2023: 23 operas

2021-2022: 21 operas

now im going to judge those works one by one, feel free to skip around if there’s a specific work you are wondering, it is new production -> repertory, and works inside each general are in alphabetic order.

verdi’s aida: cant see where it is new, only projection and animation …? arent just a different staging excited for angel blue to sing aida, yannick is average “we r in an era where conductors r declining”   shorten it into 3 hours and 10 minutes, only 1 intermission

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/aida/

ainadamar: story seems complex, angel blue again. new production,,, interesting, some many elements, looking forward to see it.https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/ainadamar/

Antony and Cleopatra: john adam’s new stuff, we really get a lot of new opera thi syear, from shakespear. great to see it. John adams is conducting himself…. and julia bullock also. tbh the cast is like…. mid, average https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/antony-and-cleopatra/

Grounded: first know it through new york time, zachary woolfe, emily d’angelo attracts me. and also the theme. very interested in seeing this. it will open the met. https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/grounded/

Salome: another all time classic, richard strauss yeahhhh. havent seen it for years, yannick,.... understand we have to give new singers oppintrnity but deyoung is so so in requiem…

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/salome/

Moby-dick: Im afraid to say the second word out, i dont want this to be a restricted podcast. i like dead man walking but only the libretto part, jake heggie, fine, lets see what ull do. I dont understand the name, seems like we r on a ship. starbucks need copy right. use same cast for every performance, love to see woman in the conducting industry 

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/mobydick/

Il Barbiere di Siviglia: thats the one I’m most looking forward to. I really can’t decide Isabel Leonard or Angel akhmetshina. Maybe I’ll go both. 

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/il-barbiere-di-siviglia/ 

La boheme:only reason for me to go is to prove myself that theres no change in 4 seasons, don't understand why this has been play over and over? provide a stage for singers to debut? 

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/la-boheme/ 

Les Contes d’Hoffmann: I love Hoffmanns work, I love offenbacks operetta and this is his only and last opera. Good good good. I like Marco Armiliato’s conducting style. Pretty Yande… her voice is too loose for me somehow. 

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/les-contes-dhoffmann/

The magic flute: we don’t talk abt this

Le Nozze di Figaro: oh yeah babe Mozarts most famous work besides the magic flute. Another woman conductor. A lot of new artists again, met became a place for new artists right now….

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/le-nozze-di-figaro/

The Queen of Spaces: tchaikovsky, that’s what I like abt this season, the work choice is really amazing. Everyone is playing all dates, Russian is a hard language to sing. I love tachikovsky, listen to symphony no.4 pls, it is really underrated. Personally saying my fav is symphony no1. I wanna see Eugene Onegin next season

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/the-queen-of-spades/ 

Rigoletto: Nadine Sierra debuted as Gilda in 2015, okay. Verdi okay, classical, okay, nothing more I can talk about. the stage director is Bartlett Sher, the director for 2021’s new year eve version of rigoletto, i guese theyll do the 2021 version? looking forward.

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/rigoletto/

tosca: xianzhang conducting again, i think this will be better than madame butterfly for her…? even tho she conducts china opera house before in a young age but later she turns to orchestra more. need to spend double money on Tosca next season 😂 SeokJong & Lise: one plays in sep+oct, one plays in nov😅 my friend said lise davidsen is amazing in Le Forza del Destino

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/tosca/

Il Trovatore: verdi again, daniele callegari, italy guy for nabucco this season, pretty good. italy conductor for italy work, good good. and angela meade is there for nov and dec. ryan speedo green appears in a lot of works these two seasons, i see him a lot.

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/il-trovatore/

Die Zauberflöte: i said no magic flute but apparently this is the 140 mins full version of die zauberflote, yes that german pronunciation… Kathryn Lewek plays the queen of night every year, well, experty i guess.according to wikipedia, every’s favorite source, she’s holding the record for most performances in the role at the Metropolitan Opera. to be honest to me her singing is eh, average. She can be better at acting and singing.

https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/il-trovatore/